Language learning at pre-primary school level: making it efficient and sustainable a policy handbook
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- 6.2. Quality and consistency
| EN 10 EN places. Even where opportunities are therefor some children access is more difficult — for example where parents are asked to contribute additional fees for language lessons. Furthermore, ELL is only provided in a limited number of languages. Diversifying the offer of languages is a challenge linked to local demand, to utilitarian considerations and to the availability of adequate human and financial resources. In some contexts it may also be important to focus on possible differences in attitude and performance between boys and girls during ELL activities. 6.2. Quality and consistency Practical experience shows that every child will benefit from the best conditions possible for developing his/her individual potential, including the acquisition of multilingual awareness and language skills. Pre-primary language education aims to offer all children equal opportunities fora good start to the emotional, social and cognitive development resulting from language exposure, taking into account their needs and interests and preparing them for primary school. Pre-primary language education is usually not obligatory some countries are still working on making it available to all children free of charge. Pre-primary education tends to focus on the language of instruction. Herein some cases, curricula do exist and established processes are applied. Inmost cases pre-primary settings do not have specific objectives for second/foreign language learning. Nowadays, most countries are introducing second/foreign language teaching in primary or are lowering the age at which this education starts. This may later pave the way to second/foreign language exposure in pre-primary school settings. Experience shows that young children acquire languages in an intuitive way unconscious learning, for example through listening and creative exploration stimulated by curiosity. The younger children are exposed to different languages, the greater their ability to develop a feeling for the rhythm, the phonology and the intonation of the language. Their potential to grasp the language structure later is also greatly enhanced. However, as children grow, their ability to adjust and imitate may decrease. There is evidence that while children are slower to acquire a second/foreign language than adolescents or adults are, they do tend to achieve higher levels of proficiency in the long run. Also, the length (duration) of exposure to the language usually has a positive influence. Such evidence shows that programmes for fostering multilingual and intercultural competences at pre-primary level should be designed according to context and resources. They should strike the appropriate balance between raising awareness of different languages and cultures and learning one particular language. |